bly young Mike Noyce (a former guitar student of V ernon' s who had left college to join the touring version of Bon Iver); Sean Carey on drums; and Mark Paul- son, from the opening band, Bower- birds, on percussion. In the dark space of Bowery Ball- room-a room that is not small-it felt like several hundred of us were sitting in Vernon's head. The intimacy of his songs was matched by a focussed per- formance that collapsed the space around us. And then, after the demand- ing and cathartic "Skinny Love," Ver- non retuned his guitar and chatted us up, saying, "How are you guys?," as if he'd pulled up in his truck to help us move a few pieces of furniture. That personality-"a pretty present person" is how he put it to me-only makes it eas- ier to open up to the music. The songs from "For Emma," which Vernon once described as merely "demos" to his friends, feel complete, now that he has had more than a year to play them live. Bon Iver songs rarely feature a full drum kit or a bass line; Vernon concentrates on the human voice, and usually provides just enough information to guide that voice. But Vernon's additions onstage-a glowing and receding guitar line, a brief: thun- derous unison of tomtom drums- anchor and frame the songs. Vernon seems to know when to cut through the angelic foofaraw and let the band bring the songs closer to rock, though that connection fades in and out. At Town Hall, this December, Ver- non had a different series of connec- tions to make. The hall is an august space, with a proscenium stage and theatre seating. It is not an easy room to overwhelm, and for the first part of the Bon Iver show there was a slightly middle-school-recital feel to the whole thing. Vernon and his band were spread out across the wide stage, and the emotional exchange in the room was limited. "Skinny Love" upset the decorum a little, but it wasn't until the end of the set that Vernon found the opportunity to create the almost uncomfortable closeness that Bon Iver songs demand. As Vernon began to tell the crowd that he doesn't much like encores, and that the band was almost out of songs, an audience member started shouting back at him. (Town Hall is the last room in New York where you would expect anyone to shout.) The man's complaints were about the economy, layoffs, and New York's general mal- aise, and they were soon drowned out by a round of applause and laughter. Vernon responded, "I didn't hear every- thing you said at the end there, but \ \, ....\, : ''\...- -...... - -<<. ' ---/..- "- \ ( I, <.... -Þ- .-- I . t,, IV' I"" I ( ,: I II , .1 \ \ I \, ' " : , ___ I' , 1 \ \ \' . \ ' J! ,i" r\. ,\ '. 4) ':, ...., ; \ lJlI,f, \,'I l , ,,1, 'Vfl V . '[ i i \ , {ý" '\,\ ,\1 "., \ . ,..>. '" \. -. \.. I ,,\ h \ ' \ signature to a steady 3/4 stomp that uses those five words as a main motif: The recorded version doesn't approach the ruckus that Bon Iver made that eve- ning; as we all sang along, the band pounded harder and harder, blending in little eddies of feedback and clatter. Those words are what get me-joined with melody, they seem like a summary -# - ,. '<,jo......... ,""- ',1. - - /" ' \\'-' _:, .- \" \ \:'0\ = . . ""'- " " ,.' ,-,-.,\ '. " { ,\! ,\' ,' "S ,;; _ \'\ . -- . ... t.. ", \ ',' , , .' \ \. \. . " . .... " " \, . '" , 'Y'I'.' 'f ' ,\ ,I \,' 'I, ,\,..i.tJt"ì_. 'j- \1 \Iii'" 0, ,... [ 11 ,'' !.,' '\"\ , if \ 'I' ' . Exalted. Justin Vernon's falsetto choir of massed voices. Photograph by Ethan Levitas. it seemed really heartfelt." With this weird and upbeat moment in the air, he invited the crowd-as he does at every show-to sing along to the song that I find it hardest to get through unscathed, "The Wolves (Act I and II)." The audi- ence was asked to sing five words- "what might have been lost"-which signal the song's shift from a series of chords that ring without any clear time of the entire album, especially with that highly conditional "might." Trying to keep track of everything lost? Or celebrating what wasn't? When the band was done, and the crowd had filed out, I was still in my seat. . NEWYORKER.COM Video: Justin Vernon with Sasha Frere-Jones.